


harbringer

by milkytart



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Relationships, Hunter Exam, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Multi, OOC, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character, Platonic Relationships, Queerplatonic Relationships, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, Short Chapters, Slow Burn, Unhealthy Relationships, eventual spoilers, just wait guys its gonna be terrible, questionable morals, thought i should add that because im not the best writer lmao, young reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-08-30 21:09:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8549209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkytart/pseuds/milkytart
Summary: in which you meet boys with a home in each other with a little room for you.[hiatus, maybe discontinued]





	1. soda x and x snow

**Author's Note:**

> bad at summaries Rip  
> you're young, small, a bit problematic, and a silent protag  
> This is gonna be? a really long fic, the slow burn tag is Not A Lie  
> not the greatest writer, but I really wanted a long Killua fic? so made one

It smells like moss and sweat and iron, suffocating the recesses of your throat and the back of your nose. Your nostrils flare, then scrunch in disgust as your body instinctively widens its stance, eyes darting around as you clench your fists, hidden by your cloak. There are: men, lots of them, all gruff and tall and menacing and you shiver—but this was to be expected. You see few women, not many, but you chalk that up to being early. There's a bit of leakage and you can see browned drips of liquid slip between the cracks of the ceiling, falling into puddles people don’t avoid, but don’t stay near, either. It’s a good three minutes of just observing, eyes darting around the filthy room. Eventually, you step forward, and nearly bump into a funny green man with a wide smile.

  
He hands out a badge, a neatly printed “77” upon it. “Welcome to the Hunter Exam!” he exclaims, and your eyes widen—you almost jump—in shock at how high pitched his voice was. He continues, explaining details about the exam you only half listen to. He leaves after you say a soft and quick, “Thank you!”

  
After a second of looking around, you spot an over-sized and exposed pipe jutting out of the wall, and you perch upon it with a quiet grunt. A man around a dozen feet away has his feet touching the ground, while yours barely reaches the halfway point, and you frown, pulling your feet in for a crisscross. Your fingers graze your knees, and the multiple colorful bandages that litter across them. A reminder. You look away. You grab at your side for your bag, clutching it protectively, glancing around at anyone and everyone.

  
A man clunks over to you, off-guard and cheery. Your ears perk in preparation. He nears, and you ready your legs to jump. Your big cloak, covering your entire body more than just sufficiently, hides all this movement, and your hands ghost over your multitude of pockets.

  
“Hello!” he exclaims, and you back away a bit. He doesn’t notice; you don’t think he does. “My name is Tonpa, you could say I’m a bit of a veteran at the Hunter Exam!” and he laughs a hearty laugh, slighly bashful, and you shiver. It feels fake, too polished to be a real laugh. You don’t answer, only ever so slightly shrinking away, ready to fight or flee at a moment’s notice. You have no need to hide your tension; it’d be better if he noticed, you thought. If he noticed, he would probably go away of his own accord. But, he doesn’t, and again, either doesn’t notice or ignores it.

  
You don’t let your face sour, but you want to.

  
“You must be new, what’s your name?”

  
Five long seconds of silence, and you find no reason to decline. A quiet almost-whisper of your name, and he barely catches it. “Well,” he says, pulling two cans of orange soda out of his bag, “How about a toast to our meeting?” He holds one out to you tentatively. From behind your cloak, you slip a hand through and hold your hand in a clear “stop” motion, shaking your head gently.

  
“Come on!” Tonpa complains, “You must be thirsty, and I have a lot of cans to spare! I wouldn’t want this to go to waste.” He holds the can out more this time.

  
You frown, frustrated, and pull out a canteen of water from your bag, bumping it with his and taking a short fake sip, not wanting to waste water. That’s more than sufficient, you think. Tonpa doesn’t share your thoughts and lets put a large sigh. He says something you don’t pay attention to and stalks away, feet loud against the concrete. You watch as he approaches who you assume to be a rookie some time later, but their back is turned so you cannot see their face, only their body shape. They’re short, still taller than you, you acknowledge bitterly. Their hair is white, almost silver, like snow, and it’s familiar in the weirdest way. You turn away. Some time goes by idly while you stare at at the people around you, most ignoring you, some frowning back.

  
And, suddenly, there’s a scream, and your breath stops.

  
Your head whips to the right where you see a man on his knees, screeching as his hands disintegrate into pink petals (nen?). It was beautiful in a morbid way.

  
There’s a man, tall and muscular, with clothes like a jester. He’s smiling, and you can’t hear his words over the screams. You look away, facing the door, where you see Tonpa talking to a group of three. They drink from the cans Tonpa had offered you as well, and you feel your eyes widen in surprise as they spit and pour the soda out. Poisoned? You feel your blood running cold, thinking about what would have happened if you drank the juice.

  
Tonpa turns, angry, much like how he left you, and is stopped by the snow haired boy again, several leagues from where you’re sitting, and you feel oddly uncomfortable. More cans are exchanged, Tonpa growing more and more irked.

  
You want to see the face of the boy with hair like snow.

  
But, you won’t, your curiosity is not a thing to be satiated, lest you question more. Better to nip the bud now than to let it bloom later.

  
And, you stiffen as you hear a sudden bell cry from a man standing tall upon the other side of the tunnel. “I apologize for the wait,” he announces as the crowd goes silent, “The entry period for the Hunter Exam has ended. The Hunter Exam will now begin!” He was met with gruff fanfare, and you hopped down from your perch atop the pipe. Quickly, you patted yourself down, making sure you didn’t forget anything, as the man continued.

  
“A warning: Those low on luck or skill could end up seriously injured or dead. Those who accept the risks, please follow me. Otherwise, exit from the elevator in which you came.” No one moves, all steadfast and unwavering. You and all the others knew what could happen, and you doubted that there was a soul in the room who wasn’t serious about obtaining a Hunter License.

  
“Very well, all 404 participants will participate in Phase One.” The man then spun on his heel, back facing the crowd as he swung his limbs in a bizarre manner, walking away. You followed, slightly unsure, and cautious. You walked at a brisk pace at first, slowly approaching the front of the crowd, but the examiner sped up, and you were forced into a jog to keep up. Then, a run, but not quite a sprint. You could handle running, this wasn’t a problem for you, having done so many times before. You kept your movement to a minimum, conserving your energy while the examiner spoke again, introducing himself.

  
“I shall lead you to the exam’s second phase,” Satotz stated with an air of finality. There were murmurs and cries, “What about the First Phase?” which Satotz answered, “It has already commenced,” smoothly.

  
You were miffed. Running, you could run for a very long time, but you didn’t like to, no matter the occasion. With a large sigh, and a glance towards the back of the crowd, you ran.


	2. questions x and x patience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things don't go exactly as planned, but somehow, it turns out alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> halfway, switched from based off of the anime to based off of the manga  
> tags are a warning for whats to come (hint, IT GETS WORSE BEFORE IT GETS BETTER)  
> buttttttttt, even though reader is awkward and Small and a mass of contradiction right now, planning out a load of development

You ran down the tunnel at a steady pace, occasionally slowing to stay near the back. it comforted you, knowing you had an eye on most of the applicants. Occasionally, you glanced to where the snow haired boy was skating, and to where the group of three, a blonde, a green boy, and a business man were running. Subconsciously, you gravitated toward the group. It was two hours in when you finally heard one of them speak.

 

“Hey, kid!” the businessman yelled, and you jumped. Your head flipped around, making sure no one saw your embarrassing display.

 

“Hmm?” The snow haired boy hummed, and you clenched your fists. This wasn’t good.

 

“Show the Hunter Exam more respect!”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

A drop of cold sweat fell from the side of your face. You were getting too curious, this wasn’t good, you didn’t need distractions during this exam. You moved farther from the group.

 

“Why are you using a skateboard? That’s cheating!” Even with the distance put between you and the sounds of pants and footsteps around you, you could still hear the suited man’s voice. You pulled up your hood, hoping the fabric could muffle the shouts. And it did, much to your relief and chagrin.

 

A small part of you wanted to listen in.

 

But, you had morals, somewhat, and listening to strangers’ conversations (even if they were nearly impossible to not hear) went against them. You spared a single glance behind you, which was already routine, and saw that the snow haired boy (With eyes like lightning, you realized quite abruptly) was talking to the green boy. You pursed your lips—you wanted to talk to the green boy first! But, the two boys didn’t even break a sweat, so you thought it wouldn’t hurt to talk to them, if it were to be at your advantage.

 

But you didn’t want to talk to them outright, especially after they had just met. That was embarrassing! And a bit rude. So you went for second best.

 

You could afford to be a little nice if people thought well of you.

 

~~And you really, really wanted to ask, anyway. Two birds with one stone.~~

Slowing down, you started running next to the business man, your way in. He was sweating from head to toe, drenched, with raggedy breaths and a slump. Suddenly, he dropped his briefcase.

 

“Mister?” You became genuinely concerned, “Mister, are you okay?”

He didn’t answer, only slowing down more until he reached a complete stop. You panicked, pulling out your canteen of water and handing it to him, “Mister, mister, drink this…”

 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this—you were supposed to encourage him, he was supposed to be happy, introduce you to his two friends, and one friend was going to introduce you to the snow boy. But, your gateway in was exhausted, and you weren’t as cool as you thought you were. You couldn’t take advantage of him, that was despicable. “Mister, mister,” you urged again, pulling at his sleeve. He didn’t respond, only slumping over more. You looked ahead, where much of the group was nearly out of sight and only the two boys remained. Looking back at the businessman, you decided you couldn’t leave him—you were too soft.

 

But, you heard him mutter something, and there was hope.

 

The businessman jumped to his feet and dashed forward, as if revived, with a cry of, “I’m going to be a Hunter!” A brief moment of shock, and you ran after him, trying to catch up, canteen shoved hastily into your pack.

 

“Damn it all!” he screeched, and you gave up with a sigh, opting to stay in the back-ish again. You wouldn’t attempt something like that another time, for fear of letting that panic seep in again.

 

“Hey!” the green boy yelled, and you shrunk into your cloak, waiting for him to catch up with his friend.

 

But, then, a hand grabbed at your shoulder and you whipped around in shock. The green boy stared at you. “Excuse me?” he said, innocence flooding out from his voice, and you froze from your waist up, legs still running.

 

“Y-yes?” you squeaked, and your hand immediately covered your mouth in mute shame. That was embarrassing, and the complete opposite from the cool image you wanted to project. You wanted to disappear right then and there.

 

“Thanks for being nice to Leorio!” What?

 

“I… didn’t?” You shook your head profusely. “I-I just offered him water?”

 

You were too confused to think about how this was exactly what you were looking for.

 

But, the green boy just smiled and nodded, not answering any of the questions that were in your mind, “I’m Gon!” and he stuck out his hand, “What’s your name?”

 

You shook his hand, introducing yourself, and suddenly noticed the presence of the snow haired boy.

 

“I’m Killua.” He said simply, and you tried to make your face even. He had an odd, familiar feeling to him, and you didn’t like it. You introduced yourself again, and stayed silent as the three of you ran, perfectly in pace.

 

But, soon, you reached a huge flight of stairs, at a height where you couldn’t see the end. It was cruel, and you were just starting to get a bit tired, too. And, when the examiner had said a cheery, “Let’s pick up the pace a bit, shall we?” you paled. Gon was starting to sweat, but Killua didn’t even look phased. Some sweat gathered at the back of your neck, and your face was warm, and you felt horribly inferior next to Killua. But then, Leorio appeared with Kurapika.

 

Sweaty, shirtless, and screaming, he was still much behind the three of you, but still gaining speed, engaging in some conversation with Kurapika. It was too far to hear over the sounds of the crowd, so you left it be, despite your overwhelming curiosity.

 

“We’re ahead of everybody now,” Gon said, voice slightly hoarse.

 

“Yeah, it’s the slow pace. Climbing slowly tires you faster,” Killua said, voice the same as before the exam started. You made a mental note of that bit of information.

 

There was a moment of silence, and you buried your face in the loose fabric of your hood, not sure what to do.

 

“… Maybe the whole Hunter Exam’s like this… tedious and boring,” Killua said, finally.

 

“So, why do you want to be a Hunter?” Gon asked, and you remained silent, observing as the conversation went on.

 

“That’s the thing—I don’t. I’m interested in the Exam. I heard it was really tough, but so far, it isn’t…” He paused, “How about you?”

 

“Me? My dad’s a hunter, and I want to be just like him!” Gon answered cheerily, his rod swinging behind him.

 

“What’s he like?”

 

“I don’t know!” and you giggled a bit, finding the irony of it amusing.

 

“You’re weird, Gon!” Killua laughed, pointing at him.

 

“Really?” Gon asked, “I was raised by my aunt since I was a baby. All I ever saw of my dad was a picture,” he breathed in, as if letting the memories flood him. “But,” he continued. “A few years ago, I met a man named Kite. He knew my dad and told me lots about him.” And, Gon smiled.

 

After a bit of silence, again, Killua said, “That amazing, huh?” and Gon nodded excitedly, “That’s what makes me want to follow in my dad’s footsteps,” he says with an air of finality.

 

“What do you want to do, (name)?” Gon asks, suddenly, and to your despair, Killua looks towards you, head cocked in questioning.

 

“…I want to travel the world…” you said finally, thinking it was sufficient enough and an understandable answer. It must have been common, too, you reasoned to yourself, as you paled under Killua’s nonbelieving stare. “I-I—I wanted to be able to see things, with my own two eyes, and meet people,” You bit your lip, forcing back a scowl as you realized your past tense. It wasn’t lying, per say, since that was something you wanted to do.

 

Killua looked away, and Gon yelled out a, “Look!” and you escaped his scrutiny, sighing in relief.

 

“The exit!” and the three of you hopped into the sunlight in unison. You smiled, feeling the warmth on your face, and you saw that the other two boys smiled as well. It was comforting, and you felt that things were going to work out well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HATED WRITING THIS CHAPTER  
> so dialogue heavy and it's still a ways away from what i want to write  
> but gotta build up that plot first (crying emoji

**Author's Note:**

> if you liked this, suggestions for what should happen next in the comments would be pretty swell


End file.
